Apparatus for the reduction of ores, oxides, and the like



Dec. 29, 1931. H. E. COLEY 1,839,086

APPARATUS FOR THE REDUCTION OF QRES, OXIDES, AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 24,1928 s Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor Hen dwin ,QZQ

Dec. 29, 1931 H. E. COLEY 1,839,086

APPARATUS FOR THE REDUCTION OF 'ORES, OXIDES, AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 24, 1928 3 Sheeis-Sheet -2 Inventor- Dec. 29, 193]. H, COLEY 1,839,086

APPARATUS FOR THE REDUCTION OF ORES, OXIDES, AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 24, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Dec. 29, 1931 mesasrarss smea orricsf HENRY EDWIN connir; OF LONDON, ENGLAND ArrAnAr s ron mnn :annnerron or ones, oxrnns, AND THE LIKE Application filed August 24;, 1928, serial resumes, and'in Great Britain September 14, 1927.

This invention relates generally to appa ratus for the reduction of ores, 'oxides'and.

the like of zinc andother suitable volatile metals and in particular to apparatus for:

the subsequent process ofefi'ectingthe' separation of the metallic vapours or fume from the other gases evolved in the process ofreduction and their condensation.

hlormally this vapbur or fume is passed from the reducing chamber and is collected either in bagsor in some-form of collecting chaml er for subsequentdistillation into the metal.

According to thepresent inventionthe metallic vapours are separated from the other gases by means ofja' liquid such as Water or paraiiin and such l,1qu1d s used to convey the separated metallicproduct to either a a. collecting chamber and then a filter press or the like or directly to the filter'press or the;

like. a

One methodot effecting the desired separation'accordmgfto the present invention consists in causing theh'eatedvapours to pass from the reducing chamber directly into the lower end or" Water-jacketed or other artificially cooled vertical chamber, and introducing a liquid into the upper end of the vvertical chamber by means of one or more jets or sprays whereby finely divided drops of liquid are caused to fall through the ashe volume of hot vapours and to thereby the separation of the metallic vapours "from the other gases and to carry the condensed and separated metallic product out of the vertical chamber for further treatment.

I have found that Whilst it is necessary to sub-divide the separating liquid as finely as possible it is yet inadvisable to disseminate the same in the form of a mist as in this form it is too readily converted into steam by the hot vapours.

In order that the invention may be clearly 'L understood and carried into efiect an example of a suitable apparatus and one method of applying the same to an ore reducing chamber will now be described by aid of the accompanying drawings in which Fig. l is a vertical section through a condensing chamber or vessel according to the present invention. I

"Figs; 2 to 5 illustrate in plan a series of seven water spraying devices each embodying a plurality of jets or nozzles;

' Fig. 6 is a sectional plan view, somewhat diagrammatic showing one manner of-ass iating the condensing vessel with an ore re ducing plant such for example as is described in the specification or myprior pat- 6o ent application Serial No. 211,293 filed'Au gust 6th, 1927. V

Referring to Figs. 1 to of the drawings the condensing vessel therein illustrated consistsot a vertical tower a of rectangular e5 cross section having double Walls to form a space 0 through which Water is circulated thus forming a Water-j acket to maintain the inner Wall of the tower cool throughout the 7 Whole of the surface Which is normally contacted by the hot vapours or fume from the reducing plant. Such vapours enter the tower near its lower end through an inlet 0 of comparatively large area Which inlet is shielded against the separating liquid by 7 means of a splash guard (Z.

The separating liquid is introduced at the upperend of the tower and is caused to fall down through the tower as rain, the jets or nozzlesused for disseminating the ater being so disposed as to produce a falling body of finely sub-divided drops of liquid, thecross-sectional area of said body being equiv-' alent to the cross-sectional area of the in-- terior of the tower. This is ellected in the 8 example illustrated by utilizing as the'carriers for the'jets or nozzles skeleton frames built up from pipes which serve to convey the water to the respective jets, each frame being separately "supplied With liquid and 93 sepmrat'ely control-led by means of suitable valves. Seven of these frames are illustrated in the drawings and are indicated by the referencecharacters e, f, g, h, i, j, 70. The inlets for these tubular frames are indicated 95 by the reference characters 6, f, 5/,10', i,

a'mple to be supported bybrackets m at the m0 7 i upper end of the tower which end is open for the escape of the separated gases. The frame 6 in turn serves as a support for the frame f in the manner shown in Fig. 2. The frame 0 includes a supplementary frame 6 which is connected to it by means of a pair of depending pipes a see Figs. 1, 2 and 3. This supplementary frame 6 serves as a support for the frame 9 see Fig. 3. The frame it is suspended from the frame 6 by means of hangers 0. Similar hangers 0 are used to support the frame 2', from the supplementary frame 6 The remaining frames j and 7c are supported by the frames h and 2' respectively. The outlet for the separating water and the separated metallic product is at the lower end of the tower and is indicated at p. The liquid passing out through the outlet p may be either caused to flow by gravity to a collecting tank or chamber wherein the metallic product is permitted to settle on the surface of the liquid as scum and thus be collected the liquid then being pumped through suitable filter presses or other separating devices or it may be pumped directly from the tower or condensing vessel to such filter presses or the like.

In Fig. 6 the condensing vessel a is shown coupled to the vapour outlet 9 of a reducing chamber 1 of the rotary tube type such as described in the specification of my prior patent application Serial No. 211,293 filed August 6th, 1927. The water-cooled inlet tube for the hydrocarbon reducing agent is indicated at s. This chamber 1 is adapted to be internally heated by means of an oil burner t.

The reduction of the ore, oxide or the like within the reducing chamber 7 is effected by the method which consists in heating the ore or the like to its reducing temperature and when at that temperature introducing into or onto it a liquid or solid hydrocarbon through the water-cooled pipe 8 or a watercooled conveyor so that nascent carbon is produced at the surface of the ore and effects the reduction as described in the specification of my prior patent application Serial N 0. 672,451 filed November 2, 1923.

In the reduction of zinc and other volatile metals from their ores, oxides or the like, the separation of the metallic vapours or fume from the other gases evolved in the process of reduction and their condensation is effected according to the apparatus illustrated by causing the heated vapours to pass from the reducing chamber directly into the lower end of the vertical condensing vessel, and then introducing a liquid such as water or paraflin into the upper end of such vessel by means of jets or nozzles whereby finely divided drops of liquid are caused to fall through the ascending volume of hot vapours and to thereby effect the separation of the metallic vapours from the other gases and to carry the condensed and separated metallic product out of the condensing chamber for further treatment.

The quantity of separating liquid used may be varied in accordance with requirements by cutting out one or more of the jet carrying frames e to la.

The liquid supplied to the jacket of the condensing vessel may form part of the supply of separating liquid, or be derived from an independent source.

I claim:

In apparatus for the reduction of ores of volatile metals including a reducing chamber and means to condense the metallic vapours from the gaseous reduction products, the combination comprising a jacketed condensing chamber having an inlet in one side wall thereof adjacent the lower end of said chamber for the vapours to be condensed, a conduit directly connecting said inlet to the reducing chamber so as to prevent entrance of air, said condensing chamber having an outlet at the upper end thereof, spray means in the upper end of said chamber below said outlet, means for supplying said spray means with a cooling liquid, and an outlet at the lower end of said chamber to permit the continuous removal of the cooling liquid and condensed metallic product, the arrangement being such that the vapours to be condensed ascend in the condensing chamber into contact with descending rain of cooling liquid whereby the metallic vapours are condensed and, with the cooling liquid, escape through the outlet in the lower end of the chamber, and the gases freed of metal escape through the outlet at the upper end of the chamber.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

HENRY EDWIN 'CoLEY. 

